Leer feeder



'July 15, 1924. 1,501,602

- M. K. HOLMES LEER FEEDER Filed NOV. 2O 1922 2 Sheets-Shee 1 INVENTOR July 15 1924. 1,501,602

M. K. HOLMES LEER FEEDER Filed Nov. 20, -1922 2 sheets-sneer 2 INVENTOR Patented July l5, 192.4.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

MINOT K. HOLMES, F MUNGIE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR T0 HEMINGRAY GLASS OOI- 'PANYJ OF MUNCIE, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF KENTUCKY.

LEER FEEDER.

Applitnition nled November 20, 1922. Serial No. 602,270.

To all whom it may concerm Be it known that I, MINoT K. HOLMES, a citizen of the United States, residin at Muncie, in the county of Delaware and tate of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Leer Feeder, of which the following is a specication.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and efficient mechanism by means of which freshly formed glass articles, and other similar articles, may be delivered into the leer or other treating mechanism, automatically.

The accom anying drawings illustrate my invention. ig. 1l is a plan, with the receiving end of the leer shown in horizontal section; Fig. 2 is a side elevation, in partial vertical section, and Fig. 3 a sectional detail.

In the drawings, indicates a suitable supporting frame arranged in front of the leer and supporting a pair of parallel rock shafts 11, 11, each. of which carries a pair of upwardly and forwardly extending arms 12, 12, each e uipped at its free end with a flanged rol er 13. Each rock shaft 11 is provided with an operating arm 14, provided with a roller 15 at its lower end, said roller taking in the groove of a cam 16 car-p ried b an operating shaft 17, journaled in side the leer 24, are provided with arch' pieces 26 connected at their forward ends by a pusher bar 27 the height of the arches being suicient to permit the unobstructed assage of the articles 28 which are to be delivered into the leer.

Pivoted at 30 on frame 21 is a link 31, the opposite end of said link being pivoted at 32 to the upper end of an operating lever 33 carried by a rock shaft 34 journaled in frame 10, and provided with a roller 35 taking into the track of a cam= 36 mounted on shaft 17.

The articles 28, to be automatically delivered into the leer, are brought into position opposite the pusher bar 27, in a substantially continuous stream, by means of an endless conveyor 40, which is preferably rovided with a smooth article-receiving .ace so that, 1n case of need, the conveyor may slide freely beneath the articles if the belt 42, conveniently a trl'le higher, and the space between the belt 40 and belt 42 is ldged by one, or a series of, bridge plates In the manufacture of glass articles `by machinery, such articles are delivered lto the carrler 4Q in a substantially continuous stream with the articles slightly separated,

' and it is desirable that the movement of belt 4Q be synchronized with the movements of the pusher bar. For that purpose, I provide a common motor 50 driving a counter shaft 51 whlch 1s connected by a suitable driving train 52 with shaft 17 and is connected by a suitable driving train 53 with belt 40.

In order that pusher bar 27 may be caused to move fairly closely to the upper surface of belt 40, so that the articles 28 may be engaged as nearly as possible at their bases, and 1n order to compensate for any variatlons in the pusher bar position due to temperature distortions, I have found it convement to provide for a ready adjustment of that cam 16 which acts upon the forward rock shaft 11. This adjustment is obtained by means of an adjusting sleeve 55 internally threaded at its opposite ends with right and left threads and mounted upon correspondingly threaded hubs 56 of cam 36 and adjacent cam 16, the cams being conveniently splined upon shaft 17 and can! 36 being normally held in axial position by `any suitable means, such for instance as the set screw 57.

The link 31 ispreferably of turn buckle type, comprisin the threaded member 31 having opposite y threaded ends in v order that the push frame 21 may be adjusted longitudinally relative to the carrier 40.

It is quite desirable that the startingl and stopping movements of the ware latera y of the conveyor 40 be as gentle as possible, and for that reason great care, should be exercised in designing the cam 36 so that the movements may be soft Cams16 and 36 are preferably so proportioned that the vertical movements o the push frame will take place at times when the longitudinal movement is substantially zero.

It has heretofore been considered necessary', in apparatus of this general type, to

rovide some sort of stop mechanism projectable over the belt 40 in osition to 1nterrupt the flow of articles aong said conveyor immediately adjacent the path of travel of the pus er bar, 1n order that the pusher bar may not engage art1cles 1n such manner as to break them, this being due to the fact that occasionally an article may be so placed upon the conveyor as to arrlve adjacent the initial end of the pusher bar Yin such way as to be pinched between the v pusher bar and the side of the leer.

I have found that the necessity of such a stop mechanism may be avoided 1n the following manner:

Within the leer, adjacent the recelving opening 41, and just over the initial end of the bridge plates 43, I arrange a guard 6() which serves to limit the spread of the articles on the leer belt.

The initial end of the pusher bar 27 1s then spaced from the line of guard a distance just a trile in excess of the largest diameter of the articles 28 which are to be handled, and this initial end is preferably tapered, as indicated at 27', although this is not essential. I have found that, by thus proportioning the parts, it is not possible 'for an article to arrive within the leer in such manner that it can become pinchedby the pusher `bar and thereby injured.

The conveyor 40 and the pusher bar reciprocating mechanism are so synchronized that, under normal conditions, no article will reach the farther end of the pusher bar before such article has been pushed laterally from the conveyor 40 but, in order to guard against any ejection of articles from the leer by' belt 40, the opening 41 in the leer is guarded by a guard finger 61.

I claim as my invention:

1. A leer feeder comprising a main frame, a pair of rock shafts mounted on said main frame and carrying push frame supports, a push frame slidably mounted on said supports, means for intermittently rocking said shafts to raise and lower the push frame supports, and means for intermittently reciprocating the push frame' on such supports.

2. A leer feeder comprising a main frame, a pair of rock shafts journaled on said main frame, a pair of arms carried by each rock shaft, each of said arms being' provided with a push framesupport, a push frame slidably mounted upon said push frame supports, means for intermittently rocking said shafts to raise and lower the push frame supports, and means for intermittently reciprocating the push frame longitudinally on said supports.

1,5o1,coa

nism on said shaft, connections between part of said cam mechanism and the rock shafts and connections between another part of said cam mechanism and the push frame whereby rotation. of the shaft will produce vertical and horizontal reci rocations of the push frame, and means or relatively adjusting the cam mechanism to adjust the push frame vertically.

4.' A leer feeder comprising a main frame, a pair of rock shafts journaled on said main frame, a pair of arms carried by each rock shaft, each of said arms being provided with a push frame support, a pushframe slidably mounted upon said push frame supports, a main drive shaft, cam mechanism on said shaft, connections between part of said cam mechanism and the rock shafts, connections between another part ofsaid cam mechanism and the push frame whereby rotation of the shaft will produce vertical and horizontal reciprocations of the push frame.

5. A leer feeder comprising a main frame, a push frame, a push bar supported by said push frame and mounted at the forward end thereof, means for bodily reciprocating said push frame vertically, and means independent of, but synchronized with, said last men tioned means for horizontally reciprocating the push frame.

6. A leer feeder comprising a main frame, a push frame, a main drive shaft, means directly connected with said drive shaft for vertically reciprocating the push frame, another means directly connected with the drive shaft for horizontally reciprocating the push frame, said last two means being relatively adjustable to cause vertical adjustment of the push frame.

7. A leer feeder comprising a main frame, a push frame, a push bar supported by said push frame and mounted at the forward end thereof, a main ydrive shaft, means directly connected with said drive shaft for bodily vertically reciprocating the push frame, and another means directly connected with the drive shaft for horizontallypre'cip rocating the push frame. v

8. The combination, with a leer provided 2with a ware receiving and supporting means, of a feeding conveyor leading laterally to said leer and its .article-receiving member, a pusher bar arranged alongside said' feeding conveyor, means for reciprocating said pusher bar laterally and vertically relative to said feeding conveyor, the said pusher bar having its initial end. spaced, longitudinally of the feeding conveyor, l. distance slightly in excess of the diameter of the articles to be handled from the nearest obstruction to transverse dis lacement of the articles relative to the fee ing conveyor.

9. The combination, with a leer provided with a Ware receiving and supporting means, of a feeding conveyor leading laterally to said leer and its article-receiving member, a pusher bar arranged alongside said feeding conveyor, means for reciprocating said pusher bar laterally relative to said feeding conveyor, the said pusher bar having its initial end spaced, longitudinally of the feeding conveyor, a distance slightly in excess of the diameter of the articles to be handled from the nearest obstruction to transverse displacement of the articles relative to the feeding conveyor.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Muncie, Indiana, this 15th day of November, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and twenty-two.

MINGT K. HOLMES. 

